JORDER TRAINS JOURNALISTS ON REPORTING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

By Fabian Anawo

Twenty-five Journalists in Lagos State have been trained on effective reportage of People with Disabilities, PWDs.

The training is courtesy of a Non-Governmental Organisation, Journalists for Democratic Rights, JORDER.

The Executive Director of JORDER, Mr. Adewale Adeoye said that the training was important so that the media can project the rights and challenges of PWDs positively.

As at 2020 Nigeria is estimated to have twenty-seven million PWDs and considering the security challenges posed by insurgency, farmers/herders clashes and road accidents between 2021 and 2022 the figure might have increased by thousands.

He said that the population of PWDs in the country is too large to be ignored, hence the need to train the media to put their issues on the front burner.

He challenged media practitioners to hold government accountable in meeting the needs of PWDs especially by enforcing the Disability Act.

In a Keynote address, the Executive Director of the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, CCD, Mr. David Anyaele commended JORDER for the training and the media for their roles in ensuring the passage and assent to the Disability law.

However, he said that the media still has a lot to do as some government agencies and private organisations are not yet complying with the law.

Mr. Anyaele urged the media to always monitor budgetary allocations for PWDs and how they are spent and vowed that CCD will continue to be the mouthpiece of PWDs in the country.

A consultant with Development Communication, Mrs. Bukola George said that the media has a responsibility to give voice to PWDs by making them to tell their stories themselves.

She said that discrimination and stigma among the disability group is still high and that it is only the media that can help to contain them through regular reportage.